Baked Four Cheese Spaghetti

We had a busy day yesterday that required a late afternoon nap followed by a lovely glass of wine. Don't you just love Saturdays like that? As for dinner, ever wonder what the heck you're going to do with that leftover spaghetti you cooked too much of. You know the stuff that's hanging out in your refrigerator in a zip bag?

Last night's dinner not only took care of that little bag of pasta worms, it more than fulfilled the quick, easy, minimal fuss requirements. Oh and of course it went quite nicely with said wine.

I've had my eye on this baked spaghetti dish out of an old Food & Wine cookbook for some time. Quite simply just cooled cooked spaghetti layered with fontina, mozzarella, gruyere and a touch of gorgonzola, it almost seemed too good to be true in its simplicity. I mean, how could pasta without any kind of a sauce to speak of be tasty? 

Lady luck was certainly smiling because we hit the jackpot with this one. Wonderfully crispy crunchy on the outside and absolutely loaded with flavor, this is a pasta dish to remember ...boy that touch of Gorgonzola is powerful stuff. It went perfectly with the spicy chicken parmesan sausages we'd picked up earlier in the day at Sprout's Market and even better with the second glass of wine. Who knew leftover cooked spaghetti could hold such promise?  Download Baked 4 Cheese Spaghetti

Baked Four Cheese Spaghetti (adapted from Food & Wine, 2006)

½ pound spaghetti

4 ounces Fontina cheese, shredded

4 ounces Mozzarella, shredded

4 ounces Gruyere, shredded

2 ounces crumbled Gorgonzola cheese

Salt & pepper

1/4 cup heavy cream

Cook spaghetti as per package directions to al dente stage. Drain well and spread on baking sheet to cool (about 10 minutes). In a medium bowl, toss all cheeses together till well blended. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a shallow casserole dish with cooking spray. Spread one third of spaghetti on bottom of casserole dish in an even layer. Top with one third of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Repeat layers ending with cheese. Drizzle cream on top and bake until the top is golden brown – about 30 minutes. Cool slightly and cut into serving pieces.  Serves 4.

Comments

[Nanan]

Yum - that is how I can get William to eat Pasta!!!

[Mags]

I adore baked spaghetti and how delicious with all those different cheeses!

[June]

Lea - I was surprised at how delicious it was.

Mags - the real hit for me was the Gorgonzola, but a little more Mozzarella wouldn't hurt either.